I'm experiencing timing issues on the HXFX 3.15; Tempo of Tremolo doesn't match the midi clock.

[Klydelovell]

Hey y'all, I've got my Novation Circuit Tracks sending bpm to my HXFX via midi clock, which it detects— the tap tempo switch turns blue and speeds up/slows down as I mess with the tempo.  When I turn on a tremolo with the rate clicked so it matches to tempo, and 1/8 rate, it goes off.  I want the "on" or "up" part of the tremolo to match to always hit on the downbeat, it is simply not locked.  I've read online other people have experienced similar issues, what gives?

[phil_m]

The LFO doesn’t really relate to the tempo from the MIDI clock in any real way. You can step in the tap tempo footswitch once to reset the LFO, but I’m not sure if that works when the tempo is coming from MIDI clock. It should, I think.

[Klydelovell]

I also agree it should, when you can click the knob to set it to follow a bpm, and that bpm is sent to the HXFX via clock, why wouldn't it?  Is there any recourse?  This is a big deal for the kind of music I'm trying to make.

[phil_m]

On 6/1/2022 at 2:42 PM, Klydelovell said:

I also agree it should, when you can click the knob to set it to follow a bpm, and that bpm is sent to the HXFX via clock, why wouldn't it?  Is there any recourse?  This is a big deal for the kind of music I'm trying to make.

I wasn’t saying LFO start should necessarily be tied to the tempo, I was saying that stepping on the Tap footswitch should restart the LFO. Beyond that, there isn’t any other way to change when the LFO starts.

[PierM]

I just tried on a HX Stomp, tiding clock from a Zoia to the Stomp (tried with tremolo speed set to 1/4 and 1/8) and seems working as expected. I can input a tempo in the Zoia (via tap or CV) and Stomp is following.

Depending on the clock source, I've experienced some serious jitter with MIDI clock that Helix in general doesn't really like, maybe that's the problem.

[Klydelovell]

On 6/1/2022 at 6:55 PM, phil_m said:

I wasn’t saying LFO start should necessarily be tied to the tempo, I was saying that stepping on the Tap footswitch should restart the LFO. Beyond that, there isn’t any other way to change when the LFO starts.

It's not even a problem of the LFO starting at the right time, it's that it doesn't maintain where it starts.  If the LFO of the Tremolo has the volume up on say beat 2 and you leave it on, it'll drift from beat 2 to beat 3 to beat 4 and 1 and back around to 2 if given enough time.

 

On 6/2/2022 at 3:23 AM, PierM said:

I just tried on a HX Stomp, tiding clock from a Zoia to the Stomp (tried with tremolo speed set to 1/4 and 1/8) and seems working as expected. I can input a tempo in the Zoia (via tap or CV) and Stomp is following.

Depending on the clock source, I've experienced some serious jitter with MIDI clock that Helix in general doesn't really like, maybe that's the problem.

Was it via a midi cable?  It may be jitter, which I hope not, but the other device listening to the source (which is a Circuit Tracks) is an MC101, and it seems to be fine.  That said, maybe the 101 is really accepting, I'll have to do some experiments, because my RC202 can't take jitter from the Circuit Tracks.  That said, I've asked people more knowledgeable than me if the Tracks has jitter, and I've gotten that *if* it does, it's .1, maybe .2 off.

[PierM]

On 6/2/2022 at 9:53 PM, Klydelovell said:

Was it via a midi cable?  It may be jitter, which I hope not, but the other device listening to the source (which is a Circuit Tracks) is an MC101, and it seems to be fine.  That said, maybe the 101 is really accepting, I'll have to do some experiments, because my RC202 can't take jitter from the Circuit Tracks.  That said, I've asked people more knowledgeable than me if the Tracks has jitter, and I've gotten that *if* it does, it's .1, maybe .2 off.

 

The test I did between zoia and stomp was via two WIDI master, and really worked. I even tried with no subdivisions (1/1), and tremolo was pulsing in sync with blue flashing. Also tried setting a delay in the zoia clocked togheter with the Stomp tremolo, and they were locked properly. Of course this wont help you much as your setup is different, but imho that is how it should behave.

 

As for the jitter, I remember getting problems with some hardware that I tried to use as clock source (via midi cable this time), and that Helix didnt manage to follow...but in that case I remember the blue flashing was clearly off and erratic (sometimes even flashing red in between blue, which means disconnections from the clock).

[Klydelovell]

I used a 5 din midi cable and tested my HXFX slaved to my Boss RC202, Novation Circuit Tracks, and my MC101 and it went off beat with all of them.  The blue light didn't look off.  I even have a mode that makes the blue pulse erratic on my mc101 and I turned it off.  Those three boxes work when chained to each other so I don't think it's them.  I did get this reply from Line 6, which could or could not imply its known about.

[Klydelovell]

Chiming to say I have a new HXFX unit and it's on 3.5 and the problem persists.  Really annoying.  Submitting this to Line 6, again:

 

So whether it's plugged directly into my brain (RC202) or downstream, my HXFX not only doesn't sync just right to midi, it doesn't even match the tempo of the lights. This is not an issue for my other gear, like my Arturia Keystep, Novation Circuit Tracks, or Roland MC101. It persists with multiple cables.  This is also the second HXFX I've gotten my hand on.  It's on 3.5, but my old HXFX I've had for previous firmwares and still had issues.

[Recorded into audacity to see how the waveforms are wrong](https://youtu.be/q4j-H_2urNg).

[Video of my attempting to make the status light match the brain's brain](https://youtu.be/JFsHFfq0iNM).

[Klydelovell]

Small update. According the the FB group, the status light doesn't run via the same clock or anything from the actual midi clock, so it may drift or be off, so I can theoretically stop worrying if it visually is off. However, since my effects audibly desync from the clock being sent, that feels like a bad open.

 

 

[clausiii]

Hi!

 

I came across this problem too, getting MIDI beat clock from Pro Tools.

 

MBC works perfectly fine with delays and modulation fx which can be synced with it, no problem at all.

 

only tremolo fx don't work 100% right. They do sync to the incoming tempo but the effect is not on the bar/beat.

it seems that it just snaps anytime to the incoming tempo but ignores bar/beat and so it´s a hit or miss if the tremolo is in time or shifted by 1/16th, 1/32th,...

[clausiii]

and yes just like the tremolo, the blue status light is blinking in the correct tempo but not on bar/beat, there is nearly every time an offset...